Seen against the context of normal sized humans, Cameron Abney is a Very Large Man. I had the opportunity to see that for myself at this past summer’s development camp when Cam put in an appearance at one of the post-workout autograph sessions. (It was amazing how many Oiler fans came out for those four days at Clareview Arena, and what a large percentage of them hung in there patiently and waited for a few sweaty young men with Sharpies to come out for a few minutes.)

I’ve had a few chances to see Abney over the last 15 or so months. A controversial third-round pick of the Oilers in 2009, he was subsequently traded to the Edmonton Oil Kings during the 2009-10 campaign, and now plies his trade on a frequent basis over at Rexall Place.

I didn’t pay a whole lot of attention to Abney during my first two Cult of Hockey scouting missions, focussed as I was on 2010 second-rounders Martin Marincin and Tyler Pitlick who both figure strongly in Oilers plans. But last weekend I wandered down to Rexall to get a look at Kootenay Ice’s Drew Czerwonka, a sixth round long shot who, like Abney, is very much a project. In fact both players fit the description of what Lowetide, the patron saint of the Oilogosphere, has dubbed a coke machine. (I’m not always sure if he’s referring to size or speed!) I decided to follow both guys and try to compare them. It was easy to keep track in one sense in that they never seemed to wind up on the ice at the same time, meaning, unfortunately, no head-to-head battles. But they both had somewhat similar jobs out there, what Pierre McGuire might call “big body net presence” or “high compete level” or “strong along the wall” or … well, you get the drift.

Abney “should” have the edge on Czerwonka for two important reasons. Firstly, at 19 he’s a year – actually 13 months – older, having been selected in the draft class of 2009. Furthermore, Abney has greater draft pedigree, having been selected in the third round in ’09, 82nd overall. Czerwonka lasted twice as long in the ’10 draft, going in the sixth round, 166th overall.

One thing’s for sure: Abney’s the bigger of the two coke machines. At a strapping 6’5, 205, he was the tallest if not quite the heaviest man on the ice. As the picture attests, Cam has yet to fill out in the third dimension, but it’s not at all hard to visualize him being Dustin Penner-big once he thickens up. For that he’s a surprisingly good skater with decent straight-ahead speed. A conscientious defensive player, Abney was the trailer on a couple of plays, but he didn’t noticeably lag behind the speed of the game at any point. Moreover, he was quite adept at getting that big body where it could the most good, establishing good position in the middle of a potential hot spot, not the periphery.

On one sequence he threw a big but not over-exuberant hit, recognized a dangerous play developing and came back hard to the edge of his own crease to lift an opponent’s stick and prevent a scoring chance, then made a gutsy diving shot block of a dangerous point shot to put an end to some extended pressure.

Alas, there’s a gaping hole in Abney’s game, one which has been apparent every single time I’ve watched the guy: his hands are straight out of the Stone Age. On one sequence he was in perfect position for a breakout up the defensive right-wing boards, received the pass, and threw the puck into the skates of his centreman about eight feet away. Back it went into the Oil Kings zone, and cycled back out on Abney’s wing again. This time he didn’t manage a clean possession, fumbling the puck and failing to clear the zone. Yet a third time Edmonton regained possession, fed it to Abney on the breakout, and this time Cam managed to get it out over his own blueline before a diagonal pass that didn’t click but at least allowed the tired crew to stumble to the bench for a much needed change. I mentioned to my voice recorder that “Abney doesn’t have a good relationship with the puck”.

Cam and his linemates didn’t spend all of their time in the defensive zone. On one breakout Abney made the outlet pass, then joined the rush late, skated hard all the way to the crease for a rebound that he flubbed. (Those hands, again.) Given a rare shift on a second period powerplay, Abney predictably took up position right on the doorstep, where his screen caused an uncontrolled rebound which he very nearly cashed, only to be robbed by a diving emergency save by the Kootenay keeper.

Finally, there was one sequence that resulted in an Oil King goal. Abney intercepted a puck inside his own blueline and turned it up the ice, hard. The defenceman couldn’t handle him and he raced in alone on a clear breakaway, making a decent shot high glove which forced an excellent stop from the goalie. On the continuation, the Oil Kings recovered the puck in the neutral zone, and while Abney charged the nearside post the winger found an open teammate on the far side for the goal. Abney was an excellent decoy on the play, pretty much an ideal situation for the big man: a threat without actually having to touch the puck.

On the other side of the ice wearing the familiar uniform of the Ice (originally an Edmonton team) was Drew Czerwonka. Listed at 6’2, 197, this guy had done little to impress me at summer rookie camp or the “Young Stars” preseason tournament, but he actually looked pretty decent in this one. A fair skater, his hands are a couple cuts above Abney’s; over the course of the game he took about four pucks out of mid-air and under control. He wasn’t able to do a whole lot with the disc once he had it, mind, but at least he got it moving in the right direction. For the most part: like Abney, he had one Plumber Bob sequence where three consecutive breakouts went through his stick, almost literally, as the Ice remained frozen in their own zone. But he made a couple of decent through passes as well, and seemed to have reasonable awareness of his teammates.

Czerwonka also played the body when the opportunity presented itself, and got involved in a heavy-duty scrum at one point. More impressive was his involvement in a late-second-period powerplay shift, where Drew won a puck battle in the corner to gain possession, then headed for the edge of the crease to cause the goalie a little grief while his teammates tried a couple of shots from the outside. But just when I thought his role was set as a net-crashing decoy, the Ice changed things up. As the play came up the left wing boards, Czerwonka stepped back from the edge of the crease into the left faceoff circle, took a pass which he quickly relayed to an open teammate on the far side for the finish. A well-earned assist on what appeared to be a set play. It was a key goal, tying the score at 3-3 late in the second; the Ice would ultimately win in the shootout in what was a very evenly-played and entertaining game.

Czerwonka has shown the better scoring touch of the two so far in 2010-11, currently standing at 5-4-9 after 15 GP. He’s a decent depth scorer on a first-place club, and has taken a huge step forward from the 4 goals and 13 points he notched in his pre-Draft season. Abney meanwhile has stagnated at 3-1-4, with no points since scoring against the Medicine Hat Tylers way back on October 15. His p

enalty minutes totals remain fairly modest at just 17; the fight I saw roughly one second into his first shift against the Cougars remains his only scrap of the season to date. I did hear Guy Flaming mention on the radio at one point that most guys in the league don’t want to go near him, which makes sense given the guy’s size and the fistic prowess which was on display (twice) at the Young Stars tourney. In the Dub this season, Abney’s presence has been more about deterrence than enforcement.

For much more on the statistical performance of Oiler drafts and other junior players of interest, SumOil, a regular commenter here at the Cult of Hockey, is providing bi-weekly updates over at the Copper & Blue. Here’s his most recent report.

Finally, a word about Kristians Pelss, who at 5’10, 175, is the furthest thing from a coke machine. I kept an eye on the Oil Kings winger in this one but he did relatively little other than display a few bursts of his impressive speed. I for one am prepared to be patient with this guy, who was a longshot from the moment he was drafted in the seventh and final round last June. Consider the challenges he faces: far from home, new language, new culture, smaller ice surface, faster game, vastly improved competition. It’s gotta be tough. In my books the Latvian kid gets a pass for at least half the season while he acclimatizes. It may well be next season before we get a real idea of whether Kristians is a prospect or simply another failed guess. Such is the lot of most late-round draft picks, which are doomed to be much more miss than hit. The odds aren’t good that any of the three principals we tracked in this game will ever get a game in the NHL. But it won’t be for lack of trying.

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